Seen and Heard

Seen at the Movies:
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s atmospheric, surprise-reliant modus operandi comes a cropper in The Village, a gimmicky, unpersuasive, and altogether disappointing piece of work. As ever, the filmmaker proves himself a master at conjuring a tightly controlled air of foreboding, and his collaborators, including director of photography Roger Deakins and sound designers Steve Boeddeker and Frank Eulner, provide incomparable assistance. The first part builds ...